My New Tiger's Destiny
by WhoGotMerLocked
Summary: What I think will happen in Tiger's Destiny. Rating for light cursing.
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

** KELSEY POV**

I was lying in bed staring up at the ceiling. For the umpteenth time, I tried to summon my lightning power. It had been a month since I had been taken by Lokesh, and he had since taken to drugging me at night so I couldn't free myself.

My thoughts drifted to my tigers. I wondered what they were doing and hoped that they were safe. Then, as an afterthought, I knew they probably weren't. At least I had sent back the amulet that Lokesh had wanted from me. Thinking about white and black fur, I fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 1

** CHAPTER ONE**

** REN POV**

Finally! After a month of tracking we had finally succeeded in finding Kelsey!

We broke into the hotel room, and, with our tiger stealth, slipped passed Lokesh, who seemed to be sound asleep. We entered Kelsey's bedroom and she, too, was asleep in a large bed.

Kishan and I walked over to her. "Kelsey, wake up." I whispered and shook her a bit.

"What do you want, Lokesh? I want to sleep," she groaned, not opening her eyes and putting a pillow over her head.

"It's not Lokesh." I whispered.

At that she recognized my voice. She opened her eyes and they went wide with shock. "What the hell are the two of you doing here?" she whispered fiercely.

"Rescuing you, what do you think?" Kishan whispered back.

"Come on, we're getting out of here." I said.

When she didn't make a move to get out of bed, I gasped in shock, "You want to stay here?"

"Of course not. I would rather fight The Hulk and Ironman combined. I just can't move. If you wouldn't mind getting these sheets off me please."

I looked at her quizzically. But then Kishan and I each grabbed an end of the sheets and pulled them off her.

We gasped. Kelsey legs were bound together, and her hands to her sides with rope; but that's not what froze us, it was the IV cord that was attached to the inside of her wrist and was leading to what looked like a blood bag with clear liquid inside.

I untied the ropes that bound her wrists and Kishan her feet. When Kelsey's hands were free she ripped off the IV.

"Now I can use my lightning power. That was some kind of drug that kept me from using it. It might take a while for it to wear off, though."

I swept her up in my arms, but before I took one step, I realized she felt much lighter. "Why are you so light?"

She shrugged, "Its called loosing weight, Ren. You can put me down. I can walk, you know."

I ignored her remark. "Kishan, hold her. Doesn't she feel lighter to you?"

I placed Kelsey gently in his arms and he replied that he thought so, too.

"Guys, that's very kind of you to take such notice, but we really should get going. If we stay any longer, Lokesh is sure to hear you and come in and capture you."

That got us going and we snuck out of the hotel and to the car. We drove to where we had the plane. Mr. Kadam came down the jet's stairs and Kelsey ran to him. They hugged and the sight was so peculiar that I started laughing out loud.

"What's so funny?" Kishan asked me.

"A beautiful young woman in short pajamas hugging an old man in a business suit."

Now Kishan started laughing, too and we just watched her for a little while. The joy of having her back was greater than any other feeling! He watched her perfect lips move as she talked with Kadam; her beautiful brown waves bouncing up and down when she nodded; her eyes light up when she laughed. His love for her overwhelmed all else, but when she glanced with a worried expression at them, he dreaded the words that were to come.

They walked slowly up the stairs to the jet and Kelsey climbed into one of the cots and got her probably her first good night's sleep in a month.


	3. Chapter 2

** CHAPTER 2**

** KELSEY POV**

When I woke, it took me a moment to gather my surroundings. Then I remembered that I was on the jet and I heard Ren and Kishan breathing on either side of me. I looked down and they were both asleep in their tiger forms.

_Oh, how I missed this, _I thought to myself, _how I'm still going to miss it. I can't let myself love them, not until after this is all over or once Lokesh is dead, but not till then._

I slowly got up, careful not to disturb either one of them, and made my way to the window of the jet. I looked out and we were flying over a vast expanse of rainforest.

"Where had he taken me?" I whispered to myself.

"You were in Brazil." I heard Ren say behind me.

"Hmm." I turned around.

"It's good to have you back, Kelsey." Ren started to move closer toward me.

"I wish… I wish… that…" I didn't know how to complete my sentence.

"You wish what?" Kishan asked. I hadn't even noticed him; he came in so quietly.

"I can't do this. Not yet; not till this is all over."

"Do what, Kelsey?" Ren asked.

I looked toward Kishan again. He understood. I could tell from the pained look on his face. But I could also tell he didn't fully understand what I was going to say: he thought I was going to say I couldn't keep juggling both of them; and that I would pick Ren.

"I can't be with you; either of you. Not yet; not till this is all over." I felt my face go blank as I said this. I was shutting out my heart from them and it was one of the hardest things I had ever done. "I'll still love both of you, but I'm only going to be a friend, not a girlfriend. A friend is all I can be right now."

They looked at each other and a strange look passed between Ren and Kishan, and then they looked back at me.

All of a sudden, Kishan had crossed the room and was standing behind me, pinning my arms to my sides. I struggled; I couldn't help it. Lokesh had frightened me so much, even knowing this was Ren and Kishan didn't keep me from trying to wriggle free of Kishan's strong grasp.

"Kelsey, we're not going to hurt you, but we have to know."

Ren came over to me and lifted up my tank to about mid-stomach underneath my un-zipped jacket. It didn't show much, but it was enough to reveal the row of bruises along my waist.

Kishan's hands tightened on my arms and I winced. He noticed and slipped my jacket off my shoulders, revealing another line of bruises trailing down my arm.

The look of savage rage on Ren's face made me tremble. The plane hit some turbulence and I fell into a chair.

I willed myself not to, but I couldn't stop the flow of tears. Kishan sat behind me and started to massage my back and Ren took the hand that wasn't covering my face in his own, both murmuring kind words.

Kishan hit a sore spot on my back and I whimpered. Kishan lifted up my tank, revealing the large, ugly bruise on my spine. He motioned for Ren to take a look.

"I am going to kill him." Ren growled.

"What did he do to you?" Kishan asked quietly.

"Torture." I replied.

Ren, who had come back in front of me, exchanged a look with Kishan, who left.

"What's going on between the two of you?" I asked.

He didn't reply and a few moments later, Kishan returned with someone else.

"Nilima!" I cried and ran over to her, throwing my arms around her slight shoulders.

When we broke apart, she said to Ren and Kishan, "Leave us, please."

Then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "No eavesdropping." And we were alone.

"Kelsey, I'm so glad you're back!" Nilima said to me.

"Thanks! It's great to see you, too!"

"How are you?"

"Now that I'm back, I'm as happy as could be!" I insisted, but my voice was sad, even I could hear it.

"What makes you sad, Kelsey?"

"I told Ren and Kishan I can't be with either of them. Not till this is all over. Then, and only then, shall I choose."

"Why?" Nilima asked.

"Because, it flatters me that they fight over me, but it is too much to handle right now. I can't do it. I'm also putting it off because… well…" I trailed off, thinking.

"What, Kelsey, you can tell me. Ren and Kishan aren't listening. I hope." Nilima added the last part under her breath.

"Well, I love both of them. If I picked Ren, it would hurt Kishan, but if I picked Kishan, it would hurt Ren. And I can't pick both of them. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if one of them was unhappy, if one of them was hurt. Do you understand?"

"A little, I suppose, Kelsey."

"I had never had a boyfriend before; no boy had so much as ever glanced at me, and I, a boy, until Ren came along. I never thought as myself as beautiful, I was average. And yet, when he and Kishan entered my lives I had men clamoring after me. I still puzzle about why Kishan and Ren are in love with me, when no one had ever noticed me before."

"Kelsey, if I may interject, you are quite beautiful, I'm sure you just did not notice when boys wanted to ask you out."

"Nilima, those are kind words. You are more beautiful than I, though."

"Thank you, Kelsey. As for your decision, when it comes time to choose between the brothers, follow your heart."

"Thank you, Nilima. But both my heart and my mind are torn every which way."

The rest of the plane trip was uneventful. I mostly answered questions about how I was feeling; if I needed anything, and if there was anything anyone could do for me. The answer was no, I didn't need anything; yes, I was fine; no, there was nothing anyone could do for me at the moment, thank you for your concern.

Mr. Kadam came in to talk to me for a little bit. He gave me my journal, and said no one would bother me while I wrote in it.

And then he left and I spent about an hour writing what was perhaps my best poem ever.


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

** Kishan POV**

I silently crept to Kelsey's bed. Everyone was asleep on the plane. I reached for her journal, and opened it. I knew it wasn't right, but I needed to check to make sure there was nothing she was with holding from us.

I looked down at the very last page she had written on. It was a poem; a beautiful poem:

_**WHAT WE WERE**_

___Love… is a story, needs a stranger, some danger, and passion. There must be tons and tons of fashion, but does this make love? What will? What makes love? Love is made of growing smiles, cuddlin' by a fire for a while, and singing and dancing in the rain. Giggles and banters mean no more pain. There is so much more to love then one person can know. They always say it takes two to tango! I've always gotten shy when you walked by, and then I sigh. What a shame my love story is still being written even though each word you utter makes me smitten. Yes, I'm positive now what I feel is love. Can't help it; I feel so much love! For you, your words, your songs, even the birds that sing on your windowsill. I wait until you get home. Yes, I'm all alone until you walk into the living room and you yell surprise and there before my eyes is the girl you say you love. And so because of this, I leave you in your bliss with this girl you love. You kiss, but do you know what love is? The answer to that question is no._

I was so enveloped by the poem that I didn't notice Ren come in.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered.

"Same as you. Anything important in there?"

In response to his question, I passed him the journal. I watched his eyes go wide as he read Kelsey's poem. He obviously didn't know she was so good at writing poems. Neither did I. Granted it was a sad love poem, but beautiful.

"You really aren't supposed to be reading that." I heard Kelsey say. She was still lying in the same position she was when I cam in: on her side, eyes closed.

"We know. We're sorry. Did we wake you?"

"No. I was awake when you came in."

"Oh." I said, followed by and awkward silence, until Ren said: "I guess we'll go now."

We left with the word of her poem still running through our minds.


	5. Chapter 4

** CHAPTER 4**

** Kelsey POV**

The rest of the week was boring. We were back at the mansion and it seemed as if everyone was waiting for me to break down and go running to either Kishan or Ren. But I refused to loose myself. I would be strong and independent. I would enjoy being a single woman, I told myself.

_Yeah right._

I treated Ren and Kishan as if they were my brothers or my best friends that I had known all my life and loved as though they were brothers. We watched my favorite movies, swam in the pool, picked back up with my self-defense lessons, but all the while I saw them casting side-ways glances at me or each other, as if they thought I wouldn't notice.

One day at breakfast I decided to do something about it.

"Morning, tigers." I said as Ren and Kishan entered the room, in human form (they only had to be tigers now for six hours, which they usually spent in the evenings.)

"You seem extra chipper this morning, Kells." Ren commented, taking a seat at the table.

"I am. I have an idea."

When I didn't say anything, Kishan admonished, "Well, what is it? Spit it out then."

"I think we, meaning the five of us: you two, me, Mr. Kadam, and Nilima, should go out for dinner tonight. Somewhere fancy. We've been cooped up in the house, we should get out and do something."

"I like that idea. We'll go tell Kadam and Nilima." Ren said and he and Kishan left the table.

I sighed after they left. They still thought I was going to have some traumatic fit. Oh well.

At 6:00 that evening, Nilima and I descended the stairs together. She was wearing a silver evening gown and I blue. Our silk dresses were identical except for the color, with a deep dip in the back, and thin straps. Mr. Koorand, Ren, and Kishan were all waiting by the door in suits.

"This is going to be a very interesting night." Nilima whispered to me.

I gave a small laugh and nodded my head in agreement.

The restaurant Mr. Kadam found for us was a very nice establishment. The kind that you think you might find in urban Paris, not busy India. It was of international cuisine, not just Indian.

We ordered, and then ate our appetizers and entrees. Before desert, I excused myself to go re-apply my make-up.

In the bathroom, I was applying my blue eye shadow when I heard a voice behind me.

"That dress is very stunning on you, Kelsey Hayes." A female voice, I was sure. The voice had an accent that sounded like it was a cross between Scandinavian and British.

I whirled around to find behind me a girl. She looked about a year younger than me, but she was taller. She looked agile and thin in black leather pants, combat boots, and a black leather jacket with an asymmetrical zipper. In the crook of her arm she carried a black motorcycle helmet, the kind with the reflective full pull-down visor.

She seemed delicate but battle-worn; as if she had seen the world through warrior's eyes. She was extremely pale, as if she had not seen the sun months. Her white blonde hair, pin-drop straight, fell to right above the middle of her back, framed a face of high cheekbones, long eyelashes, and full red lips.

But these were not her most memorable features. It was her eyes. Her eyes stood out. Against her hair, her bright sapphire eyes shone beautifully.

"My name is Astra. I want to help you break your tigers' curse."


	6. Chapter 5

** CHAPTER 5**

** Astra's POV**

"I don't know what you are talking about." She said, trying to keep her cool.

"Don't play dumb, Kelsey. Don't worry I'm not here to hurt you. Just hear me out, please. I want to help you. I swear by your goddess Durga I am not here to hurt you." I tried to reassure her.

"What could you say that would make me believe you?"

"Look, I want revenge on Lokesh. He killed my family; I'll do anything to kill him. He is after you. If you let me get a stab at him when you kill him, I'll help you in anyway you need."

"That's all. You're just a normal human being who Lokesh just happened to try to kill? There's something you're not telling me and I'm not going to trust you until you do."

"You are right, Kelsey Hayes, I am not a normal person. There is something special about me, but I do not think it would be a good idea to discuss it here. I would also like to meet your tigers and your protector, Mr. Kadam, is it?"

"Follow me." She led her out of the bathroom to the table the rest of them were sitting.

All heads at the table turned to us as she sat down and I pulled a chair form the nearest empty table over to sit.

"Picked up an albino hitchhiker, Kelsey?" One of the burly men at the table looked at her, questioning.

"I let her explain herself." Kelsey leaned back in her chair and stared at me, raising an eyebrow.

I sighed, "My name is Astra, I want to help you break the curse. Lokesh killed my family and I want revenge. As long as I at least get to be there when you kill him, I'll help you break the curse in whatever ways you ask me."

"You still haven't explained why Lokesh killed your family, _Astra."_ Kelsey accused.

"Kelsey, before your tigers came into your life, you did not believe in gods or goddesses, right?" This was going to be hard to explain. I didn't wait for her answer before continuing. "Well, Indian mythology isn't the only type that is real."

"So you're saying Zeus is watching ever us too?" the man who had spoken before asked with sarcasm in his voice.

"Ren, right? And the one sitting next to you is Kishan?" I asked, making sure. And also to push his buttons a bit, he was getting to be annoying.

From his stunned expression at me knowing their names, I knew I was correct. I answered his question, "That's sort of what I'm saying, except Greek mythology died out a while ago. So did Roman and Egyptian. Every mythology and every belief in the world is real. But when people stop believing in them, they die out. Beliefs are not born out of the existence of the gods, the gods existence is born out of belief. Durga is so real because Hinduism is still being practiced so widely. When hominids stopped believing in Athena and started worshipping Jesus, she ceased to be real and he began to."

_I think I explained that pretty well, _I thought to myself.

They didn't, though, "What does all this have to do with you?" Kishan asked.

"Not many people still believe in Norse anymore. Thor, Loki, Odin, and the most famous gods are but a memory. There is, however, one goddess that s very much alive and that is Hel."

"Who is Hel?" This came from Kishan.

"So the man speaks," I said coyly, "Hel is the Queen of Neifelheim."

"What's that?" Kishan again asked the questions.

"The realm of the dead." They stared at me and I fought to hide a smile at their surprise. "Hel had a company of warriors, just one little company, to find demons and kill them and send them to her realm so she can persecute them."

"What kind of demons?" Mr. Kadam asked.

"Monsters, sorcerers, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde like people, and people who have used magic for bad things. The typical serial killer-wolves that are the size of stallions created by Loki thousands of years ago, ex cetera.

"At first, the Queen only had an army of men. It was by heritage that you could be part of the company. My father was in it. Women weren't allowed. So I dressed as a boy, it was quite easy at the age of 12, and passed all of the page training. I was fourteen when someone finally noticed that I was a girl. No one paid much attention to the pages, so it took that long. But Queen Hel let me stay as the only female warrior in her company. I became a full-fledged warrior at the age of sixteen, three years ago, with flying colors and all. None of the men wanted me there, but I proved myself to them by saving all their asses from a pack of blood-thirsty demons. Then, a couple of years ago, a man came who somehow knew about us, even though know one knew who he was. He proved himself to us and joined our ranks as a mere petty officer. But I thought I fell in love with him, he was very nice and handsome. Then right before he blew up the entire realm, he told me he was Lokesh and he had used magic to make me fall in love with him so I would give him the access codes to the mines located throughout the realm. And then he pressed the button. The realm went to pieces, and everyone inside, including the entire company and the Queen, died."

"How did you survive?" Kelsey asked so softly that only Ren, Kishan, and I could hear her ask.

I lowered my voice as I answered, too, "He had brought me to the woods outside the entrance to the realm to reveal the truth to me. He stuck a dagger in my stomach and left my to die, but I managed to get help and here I am." By the time I was finished, I was fighting back tears as I remembered my fallen comrades and friends.

_I am stone. I am stone._

"Mr. Kadam? You haven't said anything, is something wrong?" Kelsey asked him.

"What's your last name?"

"Irenesdaughter."

"No. I think it's safe to say we trust you, Astra Irenesdaughter."

After Kadam made his announcement that they all could trust me, he asked, "Are you hungry, Astra?"

"I haven't eaten more than a few mice for the past few days, and I'm famished."

The group just looked at me.

"Just kidding," I chuckled.

They laughed along with me and Kelsey called the waitress over so I could order something for myself.

"I'll have some Krumcake, please."

"Is that all?" The young woman asked.

"Yes thank you." Then as if an after thought: "Actually, some cardamom flavoring would be nice, thanks."

"Yes, ma'am." The waitress left.

"How old are you Astra?" Nilima asked me.

"I'm nineteen. It was two years ago, when I was seventeen; that Lokesh wiped out the Queen's demon-hunters, as we called ourselves. Our official name was the Queen's warriors. Very uncreative. We were less like an army company, more like…a bunch of highly skilled warriors who defend the world from it's scum." I ended with a smile.

"What have you done between then and now?" Kelsey leaned toward me.

"Mostly found out all I could about you, Lokesh, the curse, and the Damon Amulet. I've also been studying." I replied. It felt nice telling them about my life, like I was lifting a weight off my shoulders.

"Studying what?" Kelsey asked me.

"Let's just say I know how to use more weapons than my enemies would want to count."

"I wanted to know abou-" Ren started to ask a question, but anything else he was going to say was lost as my food arrived.

After my first bite I said, "It's almost as good as my mom's."


	7. Chapter 6

** CHAPTER 6**

** Kishan POV**

After Astra was done with her food, we left the restaurant. Beside our Mercedes was a shiny, black Harley Davidson.

"Nice bike," I commented

"Thanks." She smiled, "Been driving it since I was, oh, fourteen years old."

She pulled on her black leather biker gloves. And started to bunch up her hair so she could put on her black motorcycle helmet.

"You're into black, huh?" Kelsey pointed out.

"Black's my color. Ever since I was in mourning. Even now when I'm over it, black looks good on blonds."

She swung her leg over the bike, rather sexily, I thought, but then reminded myself that I couldn't be thinking those things, my heart belonged to Kelsey.

As she got settled on her bike, we all climbed into the car. Revving her engine, she followed us back to the house.

When we arrived, Kadam told her where her room would be and asked her if there was anything she needed before we called it a night.

"I would like to go and get my stuff from the hotel in town that I had been staying at, if you don't mind. I'll be back with in the hour."

"Sure. Either Ren or Kishan will go with you, to help you with your stuff."

"That is most kind of you, but I can do it myself."

"I insist. Ren is upstairs already, so Kishan will go with you." Kadam pressed her.

"Well, if you insist…" Astra conceded.

"I'll get my bike from the garage. Meet me out in the circle." I said to her.

As she left the house, I noticed she left her helmet on the counter. I went to the garage and pushed my motorcycle from the garage, leaving behind my helmet, too.

I swung my leg over my bike and pulled up slowly behind her.

"Lead the way," I said, and she took of, her blonde hair trailing behind her in a wave. I followed her and then speed up so I was on her side, not behind her.

In about 20 minutes we arrived at her hotel. After parking the motorcycles, we went inside. It wasn't a terribly expensive hotel, but not shabby either.

"How long have you been living here?" I asked her, looking around as we stepped into the elevator.

"A month or two. Before this, I was in Oregon, then before that: Hong Kong, time before that was a monastery in Thailand, before that was Moscow, which had followed Greenland, which had followed Rio, which had come after Buenos Aires, and so on."

"You've been a lot of places." I summarized.

Before she could say anything, we arrived at her pent-house room.

It was very organized and looked as if it was where an army-officer lived. The sheets of the bed were pulled up and tucked in, there were no bags or clothes strewn about the room, and I wondered whether it clashed or harmonized with her biker personality.

"You are very orderly." I commented.

"Yes, I am." She replied.

From under the bed, she pulled two suitcases, one regular sized and one kind of small, a backpack, and what looked like a very and large thick briefcase. She set them on the bed and started to pack her clothes and belongings in the suitcases and backpack, but I noticed she left the briefcase untouched.

"What's in the briefcase?" I asked.

"Weapons." She replied simply.

She clearly wasn't going to elaborate any further, so I changed the subject, since she was done packing.

"I'll take the suitcases and strap it onto my bike, and you can take your backpack and your weapons."

So we headed down stairs and I waited by the door while Astra checked-out at the front desk.

When we got back to the motorcycle, she started strapping her weapons case to her motorcycle with expert hands. I didn't know how to do it, so I just lost myself in the movement of her slender fingers.

When she finished and just noticed me staring at her, she laughed and said, "Does the big-muscled man who rides a big motorcycle not know how to strap things to his bike?"

"I did just get this motorcycle and learn to drive it a few months ago, so give me a break." I smiled back at her.

"Let the professionals handle, babe." She walked over to my side of my bike and nudged me out of her way with her hip. I moved and watched her strap her suitcases on my bike.

She finished and we swung our legs over our bikes, and headed back to the house.

As we drove, I let myself glance at her a few times: her blonde hair streaming out behind her in a wave. The way she had a slight smile on her lips, as we rounded tight corners or went fast. Then I checked myself.

_You can't think things like that, _one part of me thought, _You love Kelsey, and your heart will belongs to her always._

But then the other part, the more practical one thought, _You know she's going to pick Ren, you can love someone else._

The hopeful side countered: _There is a possibility she will pick me. She stayed with me even when Ren regained his memory._

Before my reality-based side could make another argument, we arrived back at the house. I got of my bike and let Astra unstrap her suitcase from it before I pushed it into the garage.

I watched her unstrap her weapons case from her motorcycle and I told her she could push it into the garage and I'd bring her suitcase up to her room for her.

"Thank you very much. You all are so kind." She thanked me.

I left her to bring her bike inside the garage and went upstairs to place her suitcase at the edge of her bed.

Then I settled down on the couch, thinking.


	8. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

** Kelsey POV**

I arrived at breakfast the next morning somewhat late.

"Good morning, Kells." Kishan said to me. I sat down across from him and Ren.

"Morning. Where's Astra?" I inquired.

"She's in the training room, working out." Ren replied, "She wants to take over your training."

"Why?" I asked.

"She wants to teach you some of the things she knows. I personally think it would be very helpful for you, especially since she is your size after all," Kishan said.

"Hardy har-har," I muttered under my breath.

After eating my cereal I made my way to the training room and found Astra in a tank top and yoga shorts hanging from a series of ropes and pulleys.

"Hello up there!" I shouted to her.

"Hello down there!" she replied, "Do you see that cord on the far wall?"

"Yeah."

"Would you mind pulling on it for me. I can't seem to be able to swing myself over there."

I walked over to the rope and pulled. The cords around her ankles released and she tumbled. I shrieked as she fell. But she landed nimbly in a crouch position. _Like a cat, _I realized.

Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail, but it still made it to about mid back.

"You've got the most beautiful hair and eyes I have ever seen," I complimented.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me especially since your is thought to be the face of true beauty by the people of this house." She replied.

For the next week I worked with her for self-defense and then did research with Mr. Kadam in the evenings. Astra even helped me with my bow and arrow usage and we became very good friends.

One day at breakfast, however she said to us all, "I need to show you something."

"What is it, Astra?" I asked her.

"Come with me," she led us into the library, "Have you ever noticed a slight change in my eyes. Like a flicker of something and then it was gone?"

"Uh, no." I replied curious as to what she was getting at.

"I have," Kishan spoke up

"Well I'm about to tell you what it is."

She told Kishan to sit across from her and look into her eyes. The she asked him whether he liked to draw, compose music, write, etc.

"Not really. I'm not much of a mind person, more of a body person."

"I see that. Well that puts a drawback on things, but lets just say you were writing something down on a piece of paper. And then you erase it. You know how it looks when you slid the eraser across the paper and whenever it passes over a section over your paper the writing is gone?"

"Um, yeah?" Kishan answered uncertainly.

"Good, now imagine you are erasing my eyes."

Kishan didn't do anything for a second, but then he exclaimed, "Astra your eyes, they're like… Kells see for yourself."

I took Kishan's place, looked into my friend's eyes and did what she had told Kishan to do. And then instead of just normal large pupils, they were small black ones like a bird's surrounded by an un-natural gold.

"My god!" I cried, "They look like a bird's!"

Then I swapped places with Ren and she repeated the same process with him. As soon as I moved away from her eyes, they returned to normal. After she was done, he moved back to where he was sitting, next to me on the couch. I had Kishan on my other side, and she sat across from us in the armchair.

"I also have claws."

"Let's see."

She held up her left hand and we stared at her fingers. At first nothing happened, but then her nails grew longer and the tips sharpened into points.

"How sharp are they?" Ren inquired.

Not saying anything, Astra drew her claws over her right forearm, drawing blood. As we watched, the gashes on her arm sewed themselves up, leaving nothing but faint pink lines where they were.

"Am I the only one without fast healing around here?" I asked indignantly.

Astra laughed before responding, "I guess so."

"I'm also very lightweight and have fast reflexes so I can do things like this…" When she was finished, Astra had flown out of her chair and was standing on one foot on the edge of the back of the chair she had been sitting on. The she somersaulted into the air and was behind me, balanced on the other foot.

"How can you do that?" Kishan asked.

"Family legacy."

We stared at her until she said, "You don't understand." We shook their heads. "You see, when Queen Hel started her little group of warriors, she gave each man animal characteristics. Each man was different. Someone had the characteristics of a snake, a mountain lion, a fish, ex cetera. My ancestor got a Svalbardian Ice Eagle-"

Kishan cut her off, "Svalbardian Ice Eagle? Where's Svalbard?"

"Svalbard is a small island off the north coast of Norway. There is only one populated city, Longyearbyen." I answered.

Astra smiled at my knowledge, before she continued the description of Svalbard. "Longyearbyen is my home town. The northern part of Svalbard is where Queen Hel made her kingdom, under the ice, through a magical passageway. The kingdom technically wasn't in Svalbard, it was in the underworld, but since that's where the entrance was, it looked like Svalbard caught in time a thousand years ago."

"Cool. But can you get back to what your were telling us about before?"

"Sure. So my ancestor got a Svalbardian Ice Eagle. It's passed down in the genes of the family. As long as Hel is alive, it will continue to be inside of me. I have most of the characteristics of a bird: hollow bones, night vision, rapidly beating heart, lightning-fast metabolism, and the claws. The only things I don't have are the wings. The ancestors were never allowed to fully transform into their animals. "

"That's cool. Wait, you said, Hel was killed," Ren remembered.

"I should have been more specific, her body died, but her mind and spirit fled to her last remaining temple and it hibernates in the statue there."

"How do you know that?"

"My life is tied her power. If she were to fade and die today, I would die, too. Every couple months, I have to visit her temple, to replenish the spell, because if _it_ fades, even if she's still alive, I could drop dead at any moment. It's like a heart attack in my soul."

"You're very calm about this," Kishan remarked.

"I visited her temple a couple days before I came to you guys, so I'm not worried about dropping like stones from the sky."

"How can your life be tied to hers?" Kelsey asked.

"Every time a new descendent joins her group of warriors, she takes a blood sample and puts it in a vial with the blood with all of the others of our bloodline before us. When we die, our souls go into that vial with our blood. And when our blood mixes with our ancestors', their spirits' have a connection to us and they can speak to us and give us advice. And she holds the vial, and it has quite a bit of her blood in it, so when she fades away, I do, too, because our bloods have mixed in a sacred bowl. I'm more or less the last person alive that believes in her, I'm all that's holding her up. Once I die, she will fade and Norse mythology will be just that, a myth. Like Greek, Roman, and all the other myths in which people have lost their faith. If I have children, they'll be the only things keeping her alive. But I doubt that's going to happen."

The mood in the room had turned somber.

"Well, the bird part is cool," I said, trying to lighten things up a bit. Astra smiled, and jumped back into her own chair.

"Thanks," she replied.


	9. Chapter 8

** CHAPTER 8**

** Astra's POV**

I studied Kelsey closely. She acted all composed; she acted as though her time with Lokesh was in the past and she had already forgotten about it. But she hadn't. For someone like me, who has had years of training and knows how to read a person, you can see instantly she is _not okay._

"Ren, Kishan, could you leave us for a moment, I need to speak to Kelsey alone," I requested of them.

The two men looked at Kelsey, and she nodded telling them it was okay for them to go. Did they seriously think I was going to hurt her?

"Oh, and before you go," they stopped in the doorway looking back at me, "I will know if you are listening. No eavesdropping. Understood?"

"Yes," they mumbled, and left, closing the door behind them.

I waited a few seconds before looking back at Kelsey. "What is it, Astra?"

"I'll tell you as soon as your tigers take their ears of the door and leave."

I heard the two devious boys mutter, "Damn, how can she hear us, we're not even doing anything."

"I can hear your heartbeat and you breathing." I called to them.

"You have to teach us that sometime," they said through the door, knowing I could hear them.

"Will do. Now, scram." This time, I heard them move away from the door, and a few minutes later, Kelsey and I could both see them out on the field through the window.

"How are you doing?" I said finally turning my attention back to Kelsey.

She immediately tensed.

"Don't worry, I know you're strong. I know your not going to break. I see, as I'm sure you do, the way your tigers watch you as if they think your just going to snap and break down and go running to one of them. I know you are stronger than that. But that doesn't mean you aren't hurting inside. And you can talk to me about it. I know what you are going through. I can help you; I know how to get through this. You just have to open up to me. I swear, I will tell Ren and Kishan nothing of this; everything you say will remain confidential. I can help."

"Thank you for your concern, but I don't need a therapist," Kelsey said bitterly, getting up and walking toward the doorway.

Right as she was about to leave, I whispered, loud enough for her to hear, but still a whisper, "Would it make any difference if the therapist had gone through what you have gone through? The kind of torture that you endured?"

This made Kelsey pause in the doorway and look back at me. "Come with me," she said, and I followed her into her bedroom.

"What happened to you?" she asked me, sitting down on her mattress.

I sat down next to her, "I was on a mission. One of my crew screwed up, clipped the wrong wire disabling the alarm system of an enemy base. The whole plan fell apart. It was my first time leading a mission all by myself into real enemy territory; it was like my coming of age mission; but I was able to get my whole crew out of the base in time; all but myself. I was tortured for weeks, until I finally was able to escape. So I know what you've gone through. I can help you put it behind you."

"How?" Kelsey questioned.

"There are two ways. The first way is the most recommendable: pick someone you trust and then talk to them. Tell them everything that's bothering you. Trust me, it may seem like bogus, but it really feels like your lifting a weight of your shoulders. It doesn't have to be me, just anyone you trust not to tell somebody else. The second way is the way I chose to do it. I got paper and pen and wrote down my whole experience. And then I burned the pages. For a while, I was still cut off from everybody I loved, but eventually I was the same old naughty Astra."

In then end, Kelsey decided to talk to me. She poured her heart out, told me all her secrets, everything she was scared of, hoped for, sad about, everything. She told me everything that had happened to her in Lokesh's dungeon. What he did to her mind; to her body; her confidence. He hadn't managed to get her in bed with him yet: he wanted to wait to do that until he had Ren and Kishan there to watch. It was devastating stuff.

"Thank you for trusting me with your feelings," I said to her.

"I trust you completely, Astra."

"Call me Az. All the my friends used, too."

"Alright. Az. I have something I want to show you," Kelsey got up off the bed and grabbed her journal, flipping to a certain page, "Here read these."

And I read her poems, knowing I was the first to see these. They were beautiful.

_**MY LIE**_

_ I love you. Those were words spoken, but now hearts are broken. You lied to me, but I gave you as second chance. Thought you were good for me, but it was just a drama/romance. I saw you with her that Friday night . Yeah, I saw her kiss you, and you didn't put up a fight m but I acted like I didn't know. I waited for you to tell me, but no. So on that Saturday night, my lie was this: that I was over you, that I hated you, this date that we're on was agreed to, to see you one more time. Cause you love her: I can see it in your eyes. And you also loved me, but you needed to make a choice, but since you couldn't, I did for you. I no longer wanted you, that I was wrong to love you. But these are all more of my lies and as I drive away I sigh._

_**THIEF**_

_ You stole my heart. Why'd you take it? I'm sorry and I'm not, 'cause you're a thief and I'm not. Make you pay, make you cry, 'cause I'm mature and your, like, five. Make you sorry, 'cause all you are is the thief of happiness. You're a thief, you're a liar, gonna get back at you. You're a liar; you set my heart on fire to erase any trace of you. Don't wan to let anyone know you've been here, huh? Yes, you left me and accidently took my heart with you, but who cares? You're still a thief._

_**YOU**_

___Screaming: why can't I stop feeling all this love for you? Shouting. The face I make is a pouting one because I can't let you go. But I want desperately to be rid of you. You're cruel and rule the school. Now everyone is on your side. But it's just because they can't see the light in the darkness, in your shadow. I too was once blinded by that dark curtain of yours; used to think it was so much safer behind those closed doors. And now I know so much better than I did before, in the beginning. I am wondering: can you hear? My heart is thundering so loudly. You thought you could have us both, but if it's her you want, you can't have me. Sorry baby, but no longer am I as scared as I was before. You can stop saying sorry, because your words can't reach my ears, but like a hook, the yank out silent tears. Yes, they come from my heart, but you tore that apart, too. But I am beginning to forget about you._

_**Love Is Lightening**_

_Love is lightening, striking down from above._

_Finding a victim and leaving them scarred._

_Love is lightening, the hand of God. _

_The right or left, no one can be sure._

_Love is lightening, leaving one changed. _

_Love is lightening, a beautiful sight to see._

_Love is lightening for better or for worse. _

"These are beautiful," I breathed in sheer amazement.

"Thanks, I worked hard on them," Kelsey blushed, "I haven't shown anyone else."

"Do you want me to not say anything to Ren or Kishan or Mr. K?" I asked.

"Please don't say anything," she begged.

"Of course."

We were silent for a few moments before Kelsey said, "You know what I need?"

"What?" I asked.

"Some retail therapy." She smiled, "I haven't been shopping I ages and I'm getting tired of my clothes."

"I love that idea." I responded, "Let's go, right now."


	10. Chapter 9

** CHAPTER NINE**

** REN POV**

Kishan and I were sparring in the yard when we heard the sound of the jeep pulling out of the garage. We shared a glance and nodded. Silently, we shifted into tigers and started to follow the sound of the car, making sure we could hear or see the car, but Astra and Kelsey inside the car could not see us.

Twenty minutes later, Kelsey and Astra pulled into the parking lot at the local mall in a part of town called Little America. There were malls like this one with American stores; American restaurants and bars; etc.

Kishan and I shifted into human form and trailed them into the mall. They went into a store called PromGirl. We waited outside and looked through the window, trying to look like we weren't spying through the window. It worked pretty well. We saw Kelsey and Astra looking through racks and racks of clothes.

They picked out some and Kelsey went into the dressing room. Astra sat down in a chair next to this catwalk that I suppose was supposed was for showing off.

Kelsey came out of the dressing room and walked up to the stairs. I gaped.

Kishan was facing away on watch. I nudged him until he turned around. "Holy…." He gasped when, he saw Kelsey.

**Kelsey POV**

I twirled around on the little catwalk for a minute. The skirts of the gown twirled around my ankles. Then I saw Astra's raised eyebrow and the cashier's mouth hanging open.

"What?" I asked.

The cashier, Shad as I saw when he came closer, rolled a full-length mirror out from the back of the store and wheeled it in front of me. I had no make-up on and my hair was in its usual braid, but the dress was beautiful. It was made of silk in a deep purple; the strapless, sweetheart, lace-up back corset top was embroidered in silver with rhinestones and swirls on the bodice; the skirt was ruffled and grew larger as it descended to the ground. A hairpiece came with it: a rhinestone crown with a small purple feather sticking out the side.

"I love this dress," I breathed, "And it's not even in gold or cobalt! In fact, I think I like purple better than blue or gold."

"No you don't," Az said and I smiled.

"You're right, those are still my two favorite colors, but I still love this dress."

"It looks absolutely stunning on you Kells."

Then the Sam the Cashier cut in: "She's not just stunning, she's radiant; she's ravishing; she's…." With a look from Astra, he went back to his checkout counter, his face turning Ron Weasley red.

"Your turn," I told Az, smiling

Az went into the changing room, and was in there for several minutes. I was still in my gown so when I sat down, I made sure to sweep my skirts like they do in the books so they wouldn't crumple and wrinkle.

Then Astra came out. She was also wearing a floor-length gown but hers was emerald green satin. The color went well with her pale skin. I absentmindedly wondered how soon she'll tan or whether she'll burn. But I quickly forgot about that thought as I admired her dress. It was also strapless and sweetheart with a lace-up back corset top. It was also embroidered but instead of silver, the swirls on the bodice were gold. The skirt was also satin but filmy organza overlaid it with little embroidered rhinestones weighing down the wide skirt. It had no headpiece.

I whistled as Az spun in front of the mirror.

"Are these for any special occasion?" I asked.

"Actually, yes. In Svalbard, we have an annual ball, and I go every year. Or I used to anyway. And I was wondering whether you would want to go: get away from everything for a couple days and have fun. See the few sights Svalbard has to offer."

"Sounds great," I replied, "When is this ball?"

"In about three weeks."

"Cool."

** Kishan POV**

Kelsey was beautiful in her dress. But so was Astra.

_Stop thinking such things!_ Part A of my mind said.

_Just because you love Kelsey, doesn't mean you can't admire other women. Besides, Kelsey is still more beautiful. _The other part, part B, I guess; replied.

Before part A could say anything else, the song changed in the store.

_All the singe ladies, all the single ladies_

_All the singe ladies, all the single ladies_

_ All the singe ladies, all the single ladies_

_All the singe ladies_

I glanced at Ren, an eyebrow raised. We both looked back in the window and were quite surprised with what we saw: Kelsey and Astra were both up on the little catwalk, still in their ball gowns, dancing. Not dancing, really, but more like swaying their hips with their hands raised above their heads. They both had huge grins on their faces. The cashier was literally drooling on his counter. I smirked. _Amateur. _

We looked back at them.

_Now put your hands up  
Up in the club  
Just broke up_

_ Doing my own little thing  
You decided to dip_

_ And now you wanna trip  
Cuz another brother noticed me  
I'm up on him, he up on me  
Don't pay him any attention  
Done cried my tears, for three good years  
Ya can't be mad at me  
_

They were still dancing.

"Have you ever seen her doing something this carefree?" Ren asked me. I shook my head. Ren was right: I had never seen her doing something this carefree, even before she was kidnapped. She had always been so reserved, so this was nice to see.

_Cuz if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it  
If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it  
Don't be mad once you see that he want it  
If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it  
_

They bought the gowns and Ren and I hastened to get out of sight before the walked out of the store. We continued to follow them.

They went to a pretzel stand in the mall. Astra got a cheese filled pretzel and Kelsey got a spinach and feta pretzel. That's Kelsey: always trying to be healthy. They sat at a table, quizzing each other on book characters, their purchases sitting on the floor under the table.

"I go first. Tell me the perfect couple from the book," Astra said, "We'll start with Hunger Games?"

"Katniss and Peeta, of course," was Kelsey's reply.

I shared a glance with Ren. We had never heard of these books. He shrugged. We went back to eavesdropping.

"My turn," from Kelsey, "Nine Lives of Chloe King?"

"Chloe and Alec. Twilight Saga?"

"Screw Edward, Bella and Jacob all the way baby!" Kelsey and Astra smiled. "Maximum Ride?"

"To hell with Dylan, Max and Fang," They smiled again. "Vampire Diaries?"

"Elena and Damon. Secret Circle?"

"Cassy and Jake. Iron King?"

"Ash is a wimp so Megan and Puck. 1-8000-WHERE-R-U? I like the names vanished better though," from Kelsey.

"Jess and Rob. Mortal Instruments?"

"Jace and Clary. Fallen?"

"Lucinda and Daniel. If Cam wasn't evil, I'd want him, though," from Astra, "Firelight?"

"Jacinda and Will. Gallagher Girls?"

"Zach and Cammie. Heist Society?"

"Kat and Hale. Shiver?"

"Grace and Sam. Lunar Chronicles?"

"Cinder and Kai. Song of the lioness?"

"Alanna and George. Protector of the small?"

"Kel and Dom," Kelsey lowered her voice, "Did you notice that Ren and Kishan have been following us since we left the house?"

"Yes. I did. They're hiding behind a potted palm tree and a bench."

They glanced out way. Ren and I turned beet red and turned around starting to walk away when Kelsey said something. "There gonna keep following us so let's show them something they weren't planning on seeing huh?"

"I like the way you think, Kelsey Hayes," Astra replied with a smirk in her voice.

We turned back to face them. They ignored us.

**Kishan POV**

Once the finished their pretzels and sodas, they continued on through the mall. We didn't try to be not seen, but hung behind them. Kelsey and Astra continued to ignore us.

"Now, let's do hot actors." Astra said.

"Alright, um I'm starting at the bottom. Joseph Morgan," Kelsey replied, "Your turn."

Astra: "Paul Wesley."  
Kelsey: "Ian Somerhalder."

Astra: "Taylor Lautner."

Kelsey: "Benjamin Stone

Astra: "Grey Damon."

Kelsey: "A young Daniel Craig."

Astra raised an eyebrow and then said: "Chris Evans."

"Chris Hemsworth." Kelsey countered.

"You like 'em sexy don't you?" Astra smiled.

"Yeah. With British or Australian accents." Kelsey laughed.

Kishan and I looked at each other, eyebrows raised. I made a not to myself to look those men up later. I brought my attention back to them. They were walking another store.

They went into store after store until they had so many bags they could barely carry them. Kishan and I finally went up to them and asked if we could hold something.

"We can take care of ourselves, thank you very much," they said at the exactly the same time.

We ended up going in the car with them anyway: we were sure to turn soon.

All the way back they were blasting music. When ever a sad love song came on, the changed it to something like this:

_Miss independent__  
__ Miss self-sufficient__  
__ Miss keep your distance__  
__ Miss unafraid__  
__ Miss out of my way__  
__ Miss don't let a man interfere, no__  
__ Miss on her own__  
__ Miss almost grown__  
__ Miss never let a man help her off her throne__  
__ So, by keeping her heart protected__  
__ She'd never ever feel rejected__  
__ Little miss apprehensive__  
__ Said ooh, she fell in love_

* * *

If you would like to see what gave me inspiration for the dresses in this chapter, message me and i will direct you to where you can find them. As this story progresses, any time I describe clothes in great detail, you can go to link i will provide in the message and find pictures there. Also, a picture of Astra will be up there too.


	11. Chapter 10

** CHAPTER 10**

** Kelsey POV**

When we got back to the house, Astra and I brought our purchases up to our rooms and talked for a while.

"Every other Saturday night, there's a party in town. There's karaoke, dancing, and beer. I work there and do the karaoke part and tonight's my last night. Do you want to come and party?"

"Sounds great."

We went downstairs and found Nilima. She was in the library with Mr. Kadam, Ren, and Kishan. I leaned against the doorframe and Astra was on the other side.

"Hey Nilima!" I called.

She turned, "Hi Kelsey!"

"Astra and I are going partying in town tonight, want to come?"

"I would love to Kelsey, but I have a date?"

"A date?" I cooed, "Ooooh, with whom? Is he hot?"

"In my opinion, yes he is. Very. He is also very sweet." She replied.

"Well, have fun!" Astra and I turned to go, but Ren stopped us.

"You're seriously going to go _partying? _Don't you know the risks of Lokesh spotting you? I will not allow it." He looked angry.

"News flash, Ren: Your not in the seventeenth century. You're not in charge of my life anymore. Heck, you never were, you never will. I can do what ever I want to."

"But still, partying? Kishan and I are coming with you, that's final."

"No, you are not, right Astra?" My eyes did not leave Ren even though my question was directed at her.

"Don't look over here. This is between you and Ren. I don't want to be involved. Sorry." She replied looking slightly baffled and terrified.

"Same here!" Kishan put in.

"Fine!" I snapped.

"Kishan and I are coming with you."

"No you are not!"

I moved out of the doorway when Nilima and Mr. Kadam took a hasty exit.

"Ren, let's go outside. We are disturbing everybody." I marched out and went into the field, not looking behind, but knowing he was following.

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Astra and Kishan in the window, ears cocked so they could hear us.

"You can't protect yourself. Kishan and I are coming with you. Astra can't protect you against men with guns."

I felt my face get red and my hands started burning.

"What did you just say?" My voice was suddenly low and dangerous. Scary-calm, as one of my old friends from middle school would call it. However, inside, I was anything but calm. Ren looked surprised at my sudden hostility.

He said it again, "You cannot protect yourself."

I grabbed a stick of the ground and knelt in the grass. In the dirt, I carved a crude drawing of a face. I stood up.

"That is you, and let's say your attacking me. This is what I can do to you." I pointed my hand at the face and blasted at full voltage for about two seconds before stopping. The ground was scorching. A poor earthworm that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, laid writing in the dirt. Smoke rose from the charred ground.

"And Astra can kill a man with her bare hands, and now, since she has been teaching me, I can too."

"Congratulations, you killed an earthworm. What if one your enemies gets you with a tranquilizer? You can't use your power then."

He was looking for everyway to prove that I could not protect myself. I was a fish and he was the fisherman, dangling the bait. But I was a fish with self-control. I wouldn't take the bait.

"I can still kick their ass from here to kingdom come. You and Kishan are not coming tonight. If you do, your gonna I'll personally introduce you to my friend Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson."

I turned and started walking away. I didn't know the Rock personally, but Ren didn't have to know that.

But then Ren threw the big worm at my turned back. "You can't protect yourself, you're just a girl. A little girl whose only job is looking pretty and attracting the attention of men. But I have news for you: you're my little girl. You belong with me. You belong _to _me. Me and no one else."

I turned and stared at him. Ok, so maybe I don't have much self-control, but the fisherman was soon gonna learn that this fish was bigger than he thought at first.

I was a boiling pot of absolute rage. I felt like blasting the whole world with my lightning power and the saying '_ha! You can't protect yourself against a little girl, huh Ren?'_

But instead what I said was, "You really think I'm pretty?" And then I let my rage show. I felt my face contort in anger. Ren looked kind of scared. _He_ was scared of _me_.

I darted over to Ren and swung my leg at his knees. They crumpled and he fell on the ground. I jumped on top of him. I pinned his arms to the ground with my feet. He didn't struggle, just sort of looked at me with a dumbfounded expression. My hand went down and closed around his throat.

I put my mouth close to his ear and whispered, "If you were a normal man and my opponent, you'd be dead."

I started to get off him but he reached his head up. All of a sudden, I felt his lips slam against mine. My mouth was a startled _O_. He stuck his tongue inside my mouth. This revived me out of my shock. I bit down on his tongue, hard, and he moaned. This was not what I had intended. I kept biting down until I tasted blood. He pulled away and said, "Ow."

I screeched in disgust. "How dare you kiss me?" I balled my fist, making sure to keep my thumb outside so as not to break it. And I punched him. I heard the crack of nasal cartilage.

Ren brought his hand, which I had released when I tried to get up, to his nose and it came away coated with blood.

But the bastard laughed. "Your feisty."

I got up and Ren did too. But he wasn't up for long. First, I kneed him in a spot no male should be hurt, and then I knocked him to the ground again, stomach down.

I grabbed his arm and twisted it behind him and pressed it against his back. There was a pop and I knew I had dislocated his shoulder.

I leaned down again. In a quite voice I said, "Your right: I am a little girl. But I _DO NOT _belong to you. I don't _belong _to anybody but myself and you'd do well to remember that or next time, I will snap your neck."

I got up and this time I was able to make it to the house. As I got closer, I saw Kishan and Astra scramble out of sight in the mirror and I knew they had seen and heard the whole encounter.

_Oh well,_ I sighed.

When I got to my room and sat down on my bed, Az was already there.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Yeah. Thanks, Az. I think I showed him." She smiled and said she agreed. "You and Kishan heard the whole thing didn't you?"

She nodded. I sighed. "Well, I don't wan this to put a damper on the evening so let's get ready for tonight."

"Let's do it."


	12. Chapter 11

**A special thanks to a certain reviewer, Caseydubs! **

* * *

**CHAPTER 11**

** Kishan POV**

When they came down the stairs and popped their heads into the kitchen, all the air left my lungs. I could sense that Ren beside me felt the same way. Granted we were tigers (we had been since Ren and Kelsey had their, um, fight many hours before), so we switched to people to admire them with human minds.

Kelsey wore a silver corset with black lace layered over it. It was laced tightly in the back and had a bunched lace on the top and bottom. She also wore black skinny jeans and knee-high boots with wedges probably about four inches. She wore her brown hair down and pin-drop straight. For make-up, her lips were painted bright red with a slight glossy sheen and her lashes were long. There was a slight bit of blush on her cheeks and nothing else. She wore a black choker necklace.

Astra was wearing an identical corset but it was red with black embroidery. Also laced tightly in the back, it had no lace. She wore a black leather mini-skirt with black ribbed tights and her black leather jacket, which she had slung over her arm. Her hair wasn't curly but wavy-ish and tied in a ponytail with a red ribbon. She had little make-up on besides lip-gloss and light blue eye shadow that matched her eyes. Her ankle boots had six-inch heels. Her necklace matched Kelsey's.

We started at them.

"We're going out now. See you guys later." And Astra put on her jacket and they walked out the house, boots clicking on the tiles inside and then the pavement outside.

We waited for about a half an hour when Ren and I slipped out of the house, switched to tiger, and then stalked into town. It was easy to find the bar where the party was.

We switched to men and walked in, keeping to the edges of the room, making sure no one noticed us. We did so well at blending in, that none of the woman swooned as soon as they saw us, like they normally did. We sat down at the bar and nonchalantly looked toward the stage.

Astra was sitting at the DJ station. She grabbed a microphone and her voice rebounded through out the bar. "Ok, normally, I would take volunteers for the first karaoke singer, but I know just the person to put up here. Kelsey Hayes, would you come to the stage, please." As she spoke, she pointed to Kelsey. All heads turned to her.

"Sorry Az, but I don't think so." As usual, her voice was soft, but since almost all conversation had stopped, so it was easy to make-out what she said. The crowd heard her, too.

"C'mon, sis! Indulge me just this once," Astra complained over the microphone.

The crowd took up the chant, "Kelsey! Kelsey! Kelsey!" The people closest to her lifted her up. I felt Ren tense, but I laid a hand on his arm before he did anything rash and betrayed our position. They carried Kelsey to the stage and deposited her near the stairs.

From here, we could see the blush on her cheeks. But she boldly climbed the stairs to the stage and took the microphone. Into it, she said, "What will my song be then, dear sister?"

"Why are they calling each other sister?" I asked Ren. He shrugged, "How should I know?"

** Ren POV**

"Your song will be…." Astra paused for emphasis and clicked some stuff on her computer, "Count On Me by Bruno Mars."

Kelsey smiled. Music started to play. I never realized how strong and beautiful her voice was. She usually spoke so softly. But when she started to sing, her voice rang through the bar. No one stopped and stared, as they should have.

_If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea,  
I'll sail the world to find you  
if you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see,  
I'll be the light to guide you  
Find out what we're made of  
when we are called to help our friends in need_

I also never she could sing. But she could. She could sing very beautifully. My mouth dropped open.

_You can count on me like 1 2 3  
I'll be there  
And I know when I need it I can count on you like 4 3 2  
And you'll be there  
that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah  
Wooooh, Wooooh  
yeah Yeah  
If you toss and you turn and you just can't fall asleep  
I'll sing a song  
beside you  
And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me  
Everyday I will  
remind you._

The crowd danced in time to the music. At one point in the song, which I could tell was about friendship, Kelsey pointed to Astra and they both smiled.

And then the song was over.

"Encore! Encore! Encore!" the crowd shouted.

Kelsey shook her head and started to get off the stage.

"Encore! Encore! Encore!" Astra started shouting in the microphone. Soon the whole bar was shouting it and Kelsey had to get back up on stage. Everyone at the bar went back to what they were doing.

"Your next song will be randomly chosen by the computer." She clicked a few buttons. "And your second song will be… My Immortal by EVANESCENCE."

Astra glanced at Kelsey with a worried expression. _That ok?_ She mouthed.

Kelsey had gone slightly pale. Then she brought herself together and mouthed back: _It's perfect. _

Kishan and I shared a curious glance.

Sad piano music started to play. For a few moments, Kelsey didn't do anything. Then her voice rang loud and clear through the bar, but soft at the same time. I noticed she wasn't using the microphone.

_I'm so tired of being here  
Suppressed by all my childish fears  
And if you have to leave  
I wish that you would just leave  
Your presence still lingers here  
And it won't leave me alone  
These wounds won't seem to heal  
This pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase _

All movement stopped in the bar. All heads turned to Kelsey, who had her eyes closed and kept singing.

_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have  
All of me  
__ [__You used to captivate me  
By your resonating light  
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind  
Your face it holds  
My once pleasant dreams  
Your voice it chased away  
All the sanity in me _

_ These wounds won't seem to heal  
This pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase  
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have  
All of me  
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone_

_ But though you're still with me  
I've been alone all along  
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held you hand through all of these years  
But you still have  
All of me_

Kelsey opened her eyes and saw everyone staring. She blushed but stayed on stage, proud and tall. But I think there was one glistening tear on her cheek.

She sang on stage the rest of the night.

About a half an hour before we knew they were going to leave, Kishan and I sipped off our bar stools and made our way to the door. We glanced one last time at Kelsey singing her heart out on stage. But we had lingered a moment too long.

Astra caught sight of us and her gaze hardened.

We hastened out of the bar and back home.

Boy were we going to get it when they got back.

* * *

**Again, message me if you want to know what their clothes look like! :)**


	13. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER 12**

** Ren POV**

We were waiting at the kitchen table when they got home. Astra stalked into the kitchen first, a look of rage on her face. Then Kelsey and my heart dropped to my feet. She did not look angry but she looked like she had just been betrayed.

"I asked you not to come, right?" Her voice was soft and sad.

"You did ask us not to come," Kishan said. We both cast our eyes down in shame.

"And yet you still came. You betrayed my trust, Kishan. Ren, our fight earlier was a catfight. It meant nothing: little pinpricks with a toothpick. But this, this was a dagger, a dagger straight through my heart. "

"Kelsey," I protested, "I… We…"

Kelsey stopped me with a stern voice, "Please, no excuses. When a schoolboy comes in without his homework, a schoolteacher doesn't care if his dog at his homework or if his homework at his dog." Her voice went soft again. "It doesn't matter why you did it, just that you did do it. It will take me a long time to trust you again. Goodnight."

She left the room and we heard her quietly ascending the stairs. Kishan and I had not gotten the punishment that we thought we were going to get, but her looks of hurt and betrayal, stung much worse than any harsh words.

Then it was Astra's turn. She came over to stand in front of both of us. She put a hand on both of our faces. "Most people, including your dear Kelsey, would say not to hurt such beautiful faces no matter what. Sometimes I would agree. But not this time."

There was a loud smacking sound and I saw Kishan's head jerk to the side. Then there was another one and _my _head was jerked sideways. A sharp stinging on both of our cheeks told us that she had slapped us.

The she got up real close in both of our faces and we could smell her mint and strawberry breath. "You hurt her," she growled, "and I hurt you. And next time, my dear princes, it wont be a little slap."

And she went to her room.

**Kelsey POV**

It took me a while to fall asleep that night, but when I did, I had horrible dreams.

_I stood one the dais in Lokesh's throne room. Ren, Kishan, and Astra were chained below me. Lokesh was pressed against my back. With one hand he gripped my neck and pulled me against him, with the other, he pressed a knife into my hand. _

_ He pressed his mouth to my ear. He bit it lightly and I shuddered. Ren and Kishan below me looked horrified and I looked desperately at them but I knew they could not help. _

_ Lokesh whispered in my ear, but loud enough so everyone else could hear. "You must kill one of the people in this room. The ones left I will send to a secluded island where they can live the rest of eternity in peace and anguish. Go on, darling, go kill somebody. Make your choice." He let go of me._

_ I turned to face him and knelt. Clasping my hands, I begged, "Please, don't make me do this. Please." Tears streamed down my face._

_ "If you don't kill one of them, I will kill all three myself. Now choose, which one, Ren or Kishan?" He kicked my ribs and I rolled off the dais to Ren and Kishan's feet. I got up, clutching my ribs._

_ "Can I take a minute to choose?" I asked Lokesh._

_ "Take all the time you need, darling." I wished he would stop calling me that._

_ I went over to Astra and hugged her. I subtly reached down with the knife and slit her bonds while whispering softly as possible in her ear. "Take care of them. Help them finish the quest and be men. Durga will give you my powers. I love you, sister." And then I had gotten through two of the ropes binding her hands: that should be enough for her to slip out of them. When I pulled away, she had a surprised look on her face. I managed a watery smile and winked_

_ Then I went to Kishan who was next to her and hugged him, too. I cut through some of his bonds. "I love you." I whispered. He didn't look surprised like Astra. I don't think he noticed that I had cut his ropes._

_ The finally I went to Ren. I threw my arms around him and I really felt the tear coming now. "I... I love you." My voice broke. I cut his bonds. He didn't notice either. _

_ I stood back and examined them. I suddenly knew what I was going to do. But I didn't say so yet. I needed a moment._

_ Suddenly, lyrics popped in my head. _I never meant to start a war. You know I never wanna hurt you. Don't even know what we're fighting for. Why doe love always feel like a battlefield?

_I smiled. I knew what I was fighting for. I turned to Lokesh. "Just making sure: I'm not allowed to stab you?"_

_ "No you aren't allowed to touch me or else."_

_ "Then I have made my choice." I replied. _

_ I turned back to Ren, Kishan, and Astra. From the look on their faces, both Ren and Kishan thought I was going to choose the other to live._

_ I walked forward and put my hand on Ren's face and then Kishan's. _

_ "I'm sorry," I whispered looking both of them in the eyes._

_ And then I raised the dagger and started to sweep it forward. But at the last second I changed it's course and plunged it deep into my heart. _

_ I started to fade right away. _

_ "Nooooooooo!" I heard everyone yell before I fell into darkness._

The dream shifted.

_ I lay limp and bound on the cold stone floor in my cell. Lokesh walked through the door. But he wasn't Lokesh. He was Ren. He came closer. Then I realized: this wasn't a dream. It was a memory._

_ Lokesh/Ren knelt down. "_Pritatama, _where is the amulet?"_

_ "You aren't Ren. You don't get to call me that. I will never tell you where it is." I spit in his face._

_ He wiped it off and stood. Ren, I mean Lokesh, glared down at me and kicked me in the ribs. I gasped._

_ This continued for quite a while. Sometimes Lokesh was Ren, or Kishan, my parents, my grandmother, Mr. Kadam, Nilima, or even Li. _

_ At one point Lokesh was himself and leaned down to my ear. "Everyday I will heal you from the previous day. And every day I will bring you closer to death. And then once I lure your tigers here, I will take you on the cold floor in front of them. They will be helplessly watching me make you mine." Then he switched to Kishan. "Consider the options._ Bilauta._"_


	14. Chapter 13

** CHAPTER 13**

** ASTRA POV**

A scream split the night air. I burst out of bed and, in my boy shorts and tank I ran to the sores or the screaming. As I passed Ren and Kishan's room, they were bursting out, in human form.

We made it to Kelsey's room. The two of them starting rushing towards Kelsey's bed but I got there first and I mouthed to them, _stay away from her, or else. _Needless to say, they stayed away.

Kelsey was thrashing in bed muttering, "No! Stop! Please, Ren, stop!"

I glared at Ren but he looked as confused as I felt. "Please, stop! Kishan!" I was cradling Kelsey in my arms. Tears poured down her face and soaked my shirt, making it almost see-through. Well that was awkward. But no one seemed to notice.

"Wake her up, Astra!" Ren and Kishan said at the same time.

I shook my head.

"Why?" Again they said it at the same time. That was annoying.

"Didn't your mommy ever teach you not to wake a sleepwalker? This is the same thing."

The Kelsey thrashed in my arms and we turned our attention back to her. She was still screaming her head off.

"Please, Li, stop! Mom, Dad, stop! Then she sobbed out: "I won't tell you, no matter what! I WON'T! You can't make me!"

All of a sudden she jolted awake. She didn't see me in the darn but felt my arms around her shoulders and she jumped up and somersaulted off the bed, landing on her feet.

I felt a bit of pride: I had taught her that. But I raised my hands even though I knew she couldn't see. I sat up on my knees on her bed

"Kelsey, it's me. You don't need to be afraid. Kishan the lights please."

Kishan switched on a light revealing the scene before us: Kelsey was pressed up against the glass of her window, skin paler than I thought possible with that kind of tan, eyes wild and terrified. But she wasn't looking at me. She was glancing back and forth from Ren, Kishan, the door to the hallway, and the door to the bathroom.

Suddenly I pieced it together. She thought Ren and Kishan were going to hurt her and she was calculating exits just like I had taught her.

"Kelsey," I said and she glanced at me. Her eyes locked with mine, and she visibly relaxed.

"Astra," she said.

I got down off the bed and went over to her. I put my arms around her shoulders and led her to the bed and sat her down. She was still watching Rena and Kishan like a gazelle watches a lion when it knows it's about to die.

"Kelsey, Ren and Kishan aren't going to hurt you."

"You promise?" she whispered like a scared little girl and looked up at me.

I rubbed her shoulders, "I promise. They won't hurt you."

Kelsey relaxed against me. She rested her head on my shoulder and I rested my head on hers.

Ren and Kishan came closer. Ren reached out to cup Kelsey's face. As soon as he touched her, she rolled backwards off the bed, "You promised!" She shouted at me before ducking behind the bed.

I went around the bed to her. I knelt down next to her and again coaxed her to stand. I cupped her face in my hand and gently forced her to look at me.

"Kelsey, Ren and Kishan won't hurt you," I whispered, "You don't have to be scared of them. It was just a nightmare."

Ren and Kishan behind me tried their best not to look intimidating. Just then I realized they weren't wearing shirts. It was all I could to help Kelsey and not stare at their well-defined chests. Out of the corner of my eyes, I counted. Kishan had an eight-pack!

Anyway back to the problem at hand. When I said nightmare, she started to cry, tears streaming down her face. She sank down to the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees. I sat down next to her, Ren sat on her other side, and Kishan sat on the bed behind her, massaging her shoulders.

"It wasn't a nightmare," she sobbed, "It was a memory."

"A memory of what?" I asked gently.

"Well, the first part was a dream: the four of us were all captured by Lokesh. You three were tied up and he told me to decide which person in the room would die. Besides him, of course. Ren thought I was going to pick Kishan to live and Kishan thought I was going to pick Ren to live."

"And who did you pick?" Kishan asked in a strained voice.

"Me."

Silence.

"You picked… you?" I asked.

"Yes."

"In your dream you sacrificed so we could escape." Ren stated.

"If it meant saving the three of you, I would do it in real life, too."

More silence. Then Kelsey continued. "The second part was a memory of my time with Lokesh. He would torture me while looking like Ren, Kishan, Mr. Kadam, Nilima, my parents, my grandparents, even Li."

"That's why were so scared of us when you woke up." Kishan clarified.

"Yes. Kishan? Ren?"

"Yes," they said simultaneously.

"You have to be needing to be tigers, I'm fine, so you can change if it hurts to be men."

"We have ten minutes left," Ren said.

"The could you guys go find shirts? It's quite distracting."

They smiled. That was our Kelsey. "We're going to go back to be now." They left.

I was about to go, too, when Kelsey grabbed my hand. "Can you stay with me? Please?"

I smiled, "Sure. But let me go change my shirt."

I went picked out a different tank and then climbed in with Kelsey, just like I did with my little sister when she had a nightmare.

As we were falling asleep, Kelsey told me exactly what Lokesh said. Before I could respond, she was asleep.

It took me a while to sleep after that, Lokesh's words ringing through my head:

_I will take you on the cold floor in front of them. They will be helplessly watching me make you mine._

I had a thousand words in my mind for that bastard.


	15. Chapter 14

** CHAPTER 14**

** Kelsey POV**

Three weeks later (two days before we were scheduled to leave for Svalbard), I was sitting at the breakfast table with Ren and Kishan, looking at books, when Astra slumped in. Her fuzzy black bathrobe was falling off on one pale shoulder. She looked terrible.

Her normally luscious hair hung limp and had none of its usual glow. Her beautiful blue eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks hollow.

"Astra, what's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing, I'm just not feeling good," she opened a cabinet and rummaged for something. About ten pill bottles fell out until she finally found two aspirins. She swallowed them and started to pick up the fallen bottles.

When she almost fell flat on her face, I went over.

"Go up and sleep, I'll pick this up. Come down when you feel better," I said.

"Thanks, Kells." She stood up and left. I finished picking up the fallen pills.

That evening, I was sitting on the couch with Ren and Kishan. We were watching _Casino Royale_. Hey, what can I say? It was my night to pick the movie and Daniel Craig looked _good_, if I do say myself. At least in this movie, since he's kind of old.  
Right at the scene where he's getting out of the water at the beach, I noticed Astra stumbling in. I paused it.

"Hey," I said, "How are you feeling?"

"Worse than I felt this morning. But this is my favorite movie and this is my all time favorite part." She glanced at the screen where Daniel was frozen. I snickered and Ren and Kishan rolled their eyes and snorted in contempt.

"Me too!" I smiled, "It's the best of all the James Bond movies."

"Why do you say that?" asked Ren.

I didn't answer and avoided Ren's gaze.

"Because it's the only one where Bond falls in love," Astra answered for me.

Kishan and Ren's mouths formed a silent _O_.

All of a sudden, Astra gasped and fell to one knee, one hand on her head, another wrapped around her stomach.

I jumped up and, quick as lighting, I was by her side. Kneeling down, I put a hand on her back. "Astra, what's wrong?"

"It's this f***ing migraine. It makes me feel all woozy," she replied. She could tell that I knew that wasn't what it was, but I didn't press it. I don't think _she_ even knew what was going on.

I helped her stand and was leading her to the couch when she collapsed.

I tried to catch her, but I wasn't fast enough. She fell to the ground, gasping. Her hands clawed at her own throat, as if trying to pull away invisible fingers.

She gasped for air and screamed in anguish. I tried to grab hold of her but she was thrashing on floor too much. By now, Ren and Kishan were beside her too. There was nothing we could to but watch.

She thrashed and gasped, clawing at he throat and then her heart, too. Then, as suddenly as it began, her fit stopped.

Her hands dropped, and she relaxed.

"Astra, what just happened?"

"It's the spell. It's fading." She replied softly, staring at the ceiling.

"What? What do you mean?" I asked, frantic. This couldn't be!

"My Queen is dying. I am dying."

"This can't happen. You are not dying on me, Astra Irenesdaughter. What can we do to prevent this?"

"We need to go to Svalbard. Now." And Astra feinted.


	16. Chapter 15

** CHAPTER 15**

** Kelsey POV**

The next time Astra came to consciousness, we were on the jet on our way to Svalbard. I was sitting on the edge of the bed we had put her in and Ren and Kishan were tigers on the floor on the other side of the curtain. Astra groaned telling me she was awake. She looked around groggily.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Almost to Svalbard. I packed all your warm clothes and your weapons."

"Thanks, Kells," she smiled faintly.

"No problem."

Astra went in and out of consciousness for the rest of the flight. When the plane landed on the small runway, we all bundled up and got into the truck that waited for us.

Astra hopped into the driver's seat, despite Mr. Kadam's, Ren's, Kishan's and my protests, but I sat next to her, ready to grab the wheel should she pass out.

But she got us to a small but nice hotel with no problem. Kishan, Ren, and I carried our bags inside, Mr. Kadam found a parking spot, and Astra went to the checkout counter. Astra spoke Norwegian to the overweight guy behind it.

"Jeg vil gjerne tre rom. En med en queen size seng og de to andre med dobbeltsenger, takk. No-røyking." _(I'd like three rooms. One with a queen bed and the other two with double beds, please. No-smoking.)_

"Det ville være 200 kroner. Her er rom nøkler. Nyte ditt opphold_." (That would be 200 kroner. Here's your room keys. Enjoy your stay.) _He replied.

Astra handed him a stack of bills and he handed her three keys. "Takk." _(Thank you.)_

Astra led us to our rooms and she collapsed on the bed. Kishan, Ren, and Mr. Kadam put their bags in their rooms and then came into ours.

I took stock of the room. It was like most other hotel rooms: TV, desk, two double beds, small bathroom, dresser, etc. I looked at the clock on the bedside table. It read 6:45.

Astra brought my attention back to her. "I know a good restaurant close by that we could go to for dinner. It's too late to go to the temple, we can to that tomorrow."

We all agreed.

Astra led us to a restaurant and instructed us on what to get. She ordered me an order of _Kjøttboller,_ which was soft of like Swedish meatballs on mashed potatoes with cream sauce. I was skeptical at first, but once I tried it, I really liked it. Kishan and Ren both got different types of meat in sauce. Mr. Kadam got some _Torsk _which was poached cod with boiled potatoes and melted butter. Astra got _Svinekoteletter, _which was pork chops with potatoes and fried onions. Norwegians liked potatoes.

It was a very good meal. Afterwards, we were preparing to go back to the hotel, but Astra said, "No, no, no. You are coming with me and we are going to drink traditional Norwegian beer."

We glanced at one another. "I will pass on that, I think," Mr. Kadam said, "I'm getting slightly tired. I will meet you back at the hotel. Goodnight."

So Astra led us through the city. It was probably only around six o'clock, but it was pitch black. It was night all day this season here, if that makes sense.

We arrived at what she said was her favorite bar. We entered and t was probably the cleanest and nicest smelling bar I had ever been in.

We sat down and she ordered all of us a beer and when I tasted it, it was so sweet, I could barely taste the alcohol.

Ren and Kishan didn't like it so much. After Astra and I finished ours, we took theirs. I wanted another, even though I already felt slightly woozy, but Astra wouldn't let me.

"If you have another, you're going to have the worst hangover possible. With this beer, you don't feel the effects of the alcohol until the morning, and we have a big day tomorrow."

So she ordered us water to water the beer down. Her comment about tomorrow made me notice that as soon as we had gotten to her native country, she had looked a lot better. I smiled.

All of a sudden, the rock music playing loudly over the speaker stopped and all of the local people stood and faced south, hands over their hearts. Music started to play and everyone started to sing.

_Ja, vi elsker dette landet,__  
__ som det stiger frem,__  
__ furet, værbitt over vannet,__  
__ med de tusen hjem, —__  
__ elsker, elsker det og tenker__  
__ på vår far og mor__  
__ og den saganatt som __senker__  
__ drømmer på vår jord.__  
__ Og den saganatt som senker,__  
__ senker drømmer på vår jord.__  
__ Dette landet Harald berget__  
__ med sin kjemperad,__  
__ dette landet Håkon verget,__  
__ medens Øyvind kvad;__  
__ Olav på det landet malte__  
__ korset med sitt blod,__  
__ fra dets høye Sverre __talte__  
__ Roma midt imot._

The everyone sat down. "What was that all about?" Kishan asked Astra.

IN this bar, at eight o'clock, everyone stands and sings the national anthem." Astra replied. "The anthem is called _Ja, vi elsker dette landet_, or _Yes, We love This Country."_

"Don't look now," Ren said quietly to us, "but the bartender is glancing at us and talking to someone else."

I subtly looked over and noticed that indeed, the bartender was acting suspicious. "Oh, don't worry about him," Astra said. "Old Danny couldn't hurt a fly." She didn't even look over at him.

I also noticed that, since we got here, her accent got stronger.

Then, the man the bartender was talking to smiled and started walking towards us. I tensed and so did Ren and Kishan when we he stopped behind Astra.

He was a good-looking man. Bleach-blond hair, pale blue eyes, white skin (like everyone here), and strong arms and chest from what I could see through his shirt.

He tapped Astra on the shoulder saying, "Astra Irenesdaughter?" His accent was a lot thicker than Astra's.

Astra whirled, ready to pounce on a would-be attacker. When she saw who it was, whoever he was, a grin broke out on her face. "Brian!" she cried and she jumped up giving him a hug.

They broke away and she introduced us to him and him to us. "Brian was my best guy friend before I went and joined Hel's ranks."

"By best guy friend she means that I was one of the only guys who was an equal match for her when we were fist-fighting." He smiled.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Kishan looked slightly jealous. I wondered what that was about but quickly forgot that thought.

"So you knew about Queen Hel and her band of merry men?" I asked Brian.

Everyone cracked up at my "merry men" comment but eventually Brian was able to respond. "Some of us here on the island still believe in the old ways, but not many of us are left. I think now it's only me, my brothers, Danny Johansson the bartender over there, Old Man Whittles, and a couple others."

I didn't respond, just sat thinking. We spent the rest of the night having fun talking with Brian, who was sharing hilarious stories of Astra as a young girl.

"So one day in seventh grade, right before Astra went away, we were sitting there, at the cafeteria table, eating lunch," he was saying to us, "And the biggest guy in the class, his name was Drew, came over and said, 'so you think you're the tough one here huh?' and Astra just looked up at him. Then, Drew's face started getting all purple and he said, 'I asked you a question, dumb girl!' 'What did you just call me?' Astra said, getting all angry herself and standing up in a huff. He tried to punch her, but he missed and fell into her tray and when he stood up, he had pickles stuck to his face. The lunch-moniter came over and said, 'what's going on here?'. And you know what Astra said?"

"What?" I asked.

"'He decided to suck face with the pickles.' And she got up and dumped the rest of her tray on him and then walked to the principle's office for detention."

We all cracked up and Astra turned a bright red.

At around ten o'clock, we left Brian and went back to the hotel for a very solid night's sleep.


	17. Chapter 16

** CHAPTER 16**

** Kelsey POV**

The next morning, Astra woke us all early. The hotel didn't have breakfast but she led us to this pancake place that had the best pancakes I have ever tasted! And it was free because the owner knew Astra.

"Astra Irenesdaughter?" he said incredulously (in Norwegian).

"Hi, Durk! How are you?" she responded (in Norwegian).

"I'm fine. How are you?" (in Norwegian)

"Good. Came home for a little while for some things. I brought some of my friends. I live in India now." (in Norwegian)

"India! Well that's a change of temperature!" (in Norwegian).

Az cracked a smile.

"You know we all thought you were dead. You always liked to play out in the glaciers and right about when you disappeared, one fell. We found your parents bodies but not yours. We thought it was swept out to sea. I'm glad your alive." (in Norwegian).

"I am, too." (in Norwegian). The smile had left her face at the mention of her parents bodies and the fallen glacier. "Durk" seemed to realize he had goofed because then he gave us free breakfast.

"Oppmerksomhet alle!" (_Attention everybody!) _Durk called and everyone turned their attention to him. "Er Astra Irenesdaughter tilbake! Gi en hurrarop for henne!" _(Astra Irenesdaughter is back! Give a cheer for her!)_

Sure enough everyone in the room broke out in cheers and Az smiled and hugged everybody, naming them.

Finally she came and sat down again with us.

After our breakfast, we took a chopper a couple of miles north. Below us, all we could see was whiteness. It was freezing.

Soon, though, the helicopter told us he could take us no farther and dropped us off a few miles from the temple. He told us he would wait right there. We hiked through the deep snow for what seemed like hours.

Then we got to the temple. It looked like it once was a grand structure, but now it's pillars were crumbling.

"Is it going to be stable?" Kishan yelled over the howl of the wind.

"It'll be fine," Astra called back.

We went inside. On the walls were murals and drawings of the ancient Vikings worshipping their gods before marching off to war. IN the center of the room was a statue of, I assumes, Hel. It was made out crumbling clay.

Ren, Kishan, and I hung back by the door as she approached the statue and started praying in Norwegian.

* * *

**A/N: From now on, I'll just tell you when Az is speaking in Norwegian instead of having the actual Norwegian translation there. **

* * *

Nothing happened. Az started walking back. "I re-established the spell. I think that's all I can hope for right now," she said.

The statue started moving and it came to life. The clay turned to pearly white skin and long, beautiful silver hair. Eyes the color of diamonds shone out under long, black lashes. Her teeth were whiter than her skin and her lips were red. She ooked to be about twenty-two.

Astra whirled and immediately ran back to kneel before her goddess.

"My warrior, stand before me as you once did, proud and strong."

Astra stood, but kept her head bowed. "Your Highness, I failed to protect the realm from Lokesh. I am on a quest now to avenge that mistake. Can you grant me your divine blessing on this quest."

The goddess reached her hand down off her throne and cupped Astra's chin, forcing her head up.

"Look at me, warrior." Az raised her head and looked Hel in the eye.

"I am crumbling. My life fades daily. And so does yours. You have a mission. I wont bring you down with me." Apparently, Hel is a very considerate goddess.

She reached around her neck and pulled off one of many long necklaces with a large, heart shaped vial for a pendant. The one she pulled off was filled to the brim with read liquid that I knew to be blood.

When she pulled the necklace off, both Hel and Astra gasped in pain and clawed at their hearts. They had started to sever the connection.

Hel's fingertip started to glow and she tapped the vial. It shrank and sort of crystalized? It now looked like a small, ruby-colored crystal heart.

Hel tried to put it around Astra's neck but Az pushed the goddess's hand away. "You can't do that!" Az cried, "You'll die!"

"I know," Hel said with a sad smile, "My dear Astra, you aren't enough to fully support me. If we were still connected, we would both die in a couple of weeks. I will not drag you down with me."

She forced the necklace on Astra's neck. It hung right between her left and right collarbones. Then, I swore I felt a slight tremor in the ground. I looked around. Everyone else had felt it, too. But I felt nothing else, and quickly dismissed it.

I looked back at Astra. She was knelling on the floor, face twisted in agony Hel had her hand on Az's head. I wanted to run and help my friend, but Ren and Kishan held me back. Hel turned to us and finally seemed to notice us.

"Take care of her," Hel said to me. I nodded. Hel turned back to Astra. She was still on her knees, forehead touching the ground. She ripped off her coat and then her underneath jacket. Hel pulled out a knife and cut slits in Az's shirt.

I stared. It looked like…. Like extra bones were trying to pop out of her shoulder blades. The skin there shifted. All of a sudden, Az stopped screaming and moaning in pain. And out snapped sixteen feet of feathers.

_Astra had wings. _

It reminded me of that book _Maximum Ride_. Except this was real. This was _very real_. They were shaped like an eagle's wings. They were such a shimmery black that they looked almost purple.

"Test them my daughter." I noticed Hel looked sickly, as if she had aged thirty years in five minutes, while Astra looked more alive than I had ever seen her.

Hel had slit large holes in Astra's jacket and coat and she slipped into them, shivering. She jumped up and she started to beat her wings. Hel looked up at her warrior. Az's head touched the ceiling. Her look of pure joy switched to a look of horror when a crack immediately spread out across the ceiling. She looked down at me and then Hel desperately, not knowing what to do.

A large piece of rock fell right behind Hel. "Go, my warrior!" The now sixty- year old goddess shouted, "Avenge me!" More rocks fell. Ren and Kishan turned into tigers and Astra started streaking towards me, incredibly fast on her new wings. My tigers and I turned and started running.

All of a sudden I was lifted off the ground. I turned my head. Az held me, and her speed was only slightly reduced. _Az, please don't drop me,_ I thought. We flew out of the temple and right below us, Ren and Kishan ran out.

They kept running, but Az turned and stared through the door, hovering in midair.

He caught one last glance of Hel before she was crushed to dust by a needle like spire.

As soon as we saw this, Az turned and high tailed out of there. She motioned to my tigers to pour on the speed.

I soon knew why.


	18. Chapter 17

**Hi guys! sorry i haven't updated in a while. I was on a family vacation to Ireland. Anyways i'm going to be going away again next week, but I'll be sure to write while I'm away and update as soon as i get back. And also, if you noticed, I changed Astra's wings to black and white to all black. The ying-yang thing just wasn't working but it'll show up later. anyways, read and review!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 17**

** KELSEY POV**

Astra flew away from the crumbling temple as fast as she could while carrying me with the wind pushing against us. I glanced down. Ren and Kishan were running as fast as they could, which was pretty fast. They pulled ahead of us.  
All of a sudden there was a loud explosion. I glanced back. A glacier was falling down on the temple. The ground shook, thirty feet below us, and it seemed as if the air pushed us forward.  
Astra had a death grip on me, so I didn't slip as we tumbled head over heels through the air.  
We started to plunge to the white ground, which was still shaking with huge tremors. Astra polled out of our steep dive and struggled on.  
All of a sudden, as if we had passed through an invisible barrier the shakes and tumbling stopped. Astra dropped close to the ground.

"I'm going to drop you. Land on your feet and then fall to your side!" she shouted over the biting wind.  
I nodded and she let go of me. I fell towered he ground. Just as she instructed I landed on my feet and the rolled on my side. Ren and Kishan ran over to me changing I to men on their way. Before they could even ask, I was in my feet saying, "I'm fine."  
We looked toward Astra. She was still in the air and trying to figure out how to land.  
Then a powerful wind came ripping through the air. Ren, Kishan, and I fell to the ground.  
Astra tumbled and fell into a snow bank. We rushed over to her. She was shivering and snow coated her face.  
We helped her up and trekked silently back to where the helicopter was waiting. Ren, Kishan and I hopped in and Astra flew next to us, her strong wings beating the air.  
"What caused that glacier to fall do you think?" I asked the boys.  
They, of course, didn't know.

Three hours later, we were talking with Mr. Kadam in his room. Astra looked a lot better than we had ever seen her but she had been strangely silent since we had gotten back from the temple. but none or us pressed her.  
"I'm gonna go take a shower," she said suddenly and left.  
We kept talking until I noticed Az had been gone for longer than it takes to shower.  
I voiced this though and went to check on her. I found her, fully clothed, in the bathtub; the water running cold. Her wings were open the black feathers were crumpled and wet. She was shivering.  
"Az, what are you doing?" I knelt next to the bathtub and turned the water from cold to warm and she slowly stopped shivering.  
She looked up at me, eyes sad and pained. "My goddess is dead."  
I didn't say anything.  
"Hel is dead. She's gone." Astra's voice was dead. "They're all gone. No one is left but me. I'm all that's left. I'm the sole survivor of my land." Her voice rose into a soft sobbing strangled shout.  
"Everyone I ever care about is dead. I won't ever see them again. Without Hel alive, our underworld no longer exists and all that were down their have disappeared. I won't ever see Sven again! I won't ever get to see my little sisters again. I'm all alone," she sobbed "Everyone I care about is gone forever. Kelsey, your all that's left. Your the only one I have!"  
I rubbed her hair and whispered comforting words to her. She quieted down. I stood up to get a towel.  
"No! Kelsey please don't leave me! Everyone has left! Don't leave!" She shouted terrified. I dimly wondered if we were disturbing other people in the hotel and then I realized there probably wasn't anybody else in the hotel.  
"I'm not leaving," I assured her, "just getting a towel." I came back over and helped her stand, wrapping the towel over her shoulders. I led her out into the main room.  
Ren, Kishan, and Mr. Kadam had cone over to see what was wrong. They left the room so I could help Astra dry and get her sleeping clothes on.  
I was pondering how to cut wing slits in her shirt when her skin shifted and opened and her wings pulled in. Her skin closed up again. _Eeeeew, _I thought, but didn't say anything.  
I tucked her into her bed and was about to leave when she stopped me.  
"Can you sing to me, Kells? Please?" she asked in a small voice.  
I came and sat down on her bed and rubbed her hair. "What do you want me to sing?" I asked.  
"Wishing you were somehow here again from Phantom of the Opera. Please," she answered timidly.  
"Are you sure?" I asked.  
"Yes."  
I crawled in next to her on the bed and held her, singing softly.  
_ You were once m one companion__  
__ You were all that mattered__  
__ You were once a friend and father__  
__ Then my world was shattered__  
__ Wishing you were somehow here again__  
__ Wishing you were somehow near__  
__ Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed__  
__ Somehow you would be here__  
__ Wishing I could hear your voice again__  
__ Knowing that I never would__  
__ Dreaming of you won't help me to do__  
__ All that you dreamed I could__  
__ Passing bells and sculpted angels__  
__ Cold and monumental__  
__ Seem for you the wrong companions__  
__ You were warn and gentle__  
__ Too many years fighting back tears__  
__ Why can't the past just die?__  
__ Wishing you were somehow here again__  
__ Knowing we must say goodbye__  
__ Try to forgive. Teach me to live__  
__ Give me the strength to try__  
__ No more memories no more tears__  
__ No more gazing across the wasted years__  
__ Help me say good bye._

Astra was asleep. I fell asleep soon too but I was vaguely aware of Ren and Kishan mopping up the bathroom and tucking me in with Az and then closing the door. I dimly realized they probably heard me singing and wondered what they thought.  
After that I knew no more till the next morning.


	19. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER 18**

** Ren POV**

I fell asleep the previous night thinking about the song that Kelsey had sung Astra (and herself) to sleep with. As I sat up straight in bed, changing into human as I did, I knew I had heard it before, but I couldn't seem to remember where.

I shook my head back and forth trying to dislodge that weird feeling but I couldn't seem to shake it. _Oh well_, I decided to ignore it, _I'll remember it eventually. _

I looked over at Kishan in the next bed. He was still in tiger form. I wondered what the maids thought of the black and white fur all over the blankets and smiled. A tiger yawn came from the other bed and then Kishan was a man.

Anik went home. He actually got on the plane and flew back to India. He told us that he had some things he needed to take care of back home and that would send the plane when we were ready to come back. After we all said goodbyes we went for breakfast.

Astra's friend from the other night, Brian, brought us to his house because he needed to teach us how to dance for the festival balls and dances over the next few days, starting at the bar tomorrow. Kishan and I rolled our eyes, because we knew how to dance already.

Next to us, Astra whispered, "It's not the kind of dance you learned three hundred years ago, you will have to learn." And then she and Brian demonstrated. She was right. It wasn't what we were expecting.

For the next couple hours, Astra and Brian taught Kelsey, Kishan and I the moves. It seemed to take her mind of what happened yesterday. Then we went to the bar, to listen to some traditional music.

Astra clearly hadn't forgotten about what had happened the previous day and she had a lot to drink and let Kelsey drink a lot, too. Which was unusual. For both of them.

The band finished playing a song, and suddenly Kelsey stood up, walked to the stage and grabbed the mike. Like I said, she was loopy.

Everyone stared up at her. Dylan and I and the rest of the flock looked worried. We certainly had a right to be. Worried, I mean.

The singer in the band tried to take the mike from her fingers but she wouldn't budge

"I'm drunk," she stated into the mike at the silent audience, "And I'm probably gonna regret this when I remember tomorrow, but at the moment, I couldn't care less."

More silence. The singer was still trying to take the mike out of her hands. She pushed him aside.

"You know how, your like in the car an' your listening to he radio an' you hear a song that you can immediately relate back to your life?" There were murmurs of agreement at her slurred words. "I've found that lately, this song really relates to my current situation."

She turned to the band and I heard (but no one besides those of with genetically modified hearing could) her say, "I am going to sing and you are going to be my backup." And she whispered the name of a song so soft even I couldn't hear it.

And she started to sing. She sang beautifully. But I had no choice but to resent this fact because she was staring right at me when she sang her song. Like she said, phrases reminded me of us.

_Don't hang up, can't we talk  
So confused it's like I'm lost  
What went wrong, what made you go  
Don't pretend you don't know  
This is me I'm un-changable_

_ When did we fall apart  
Or did you lie from the start  
When you said, it's only you  
I was blind, such a fool  
Thinking we were unbreakable___

_ It was you and me, against the world  
And you promised me forever more  
Was it something that I said  
Was it something that I did  
Cause I gotta know what made me unbeautiful  
_

I remembered when I still hadn't regained my memory and broke up with her, telling her that I would _find some one prettier. _I remembered her tears and her betrayal._  
I've been told what's done is done  
To let it go and carry on  
Deep inside I know that's true  
I'm stuck in time, stuck on you  
We were still untouchable  
__  
__ It was you and me, against the world  
And you promised me forever more  
Was it something that I said  
Was it something that I did  
Cause I gotta know what made me unbeautiful  
_

Every time she sang that line, I cursed myself for hurting her.

___ Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up  
Cause I'm only dreaming  
Get out, get out, get out, get out  
Get out of my head now  
Because we're much better altogether  
__  
__ It was you and me, against the world  
And you promised me forever more  
Was it something that I said  
Was it something that I did  
Cause I gotta know what made me unbeautiful_

It was you and me, against the world  
And you promised me forever more  
Was it something that I said  
Was it something that I did  
Cause I gotta know what made me unbeautiful__

_ ... made me unbeautiful_

After she finished, it suddenly hit me where I had heard the Phantom song before. And this one, too. When I first broke up with her on the boat, when I hadn't gotten my memory back, when she was falling asleep, she would cry herself to sleep and listen to sad love songs on her iPod. Like this one and the Phantom song and the song she sang next (_Jar of hearts_ by Christina Perri). I tried not to listen. But certain phrases jumped out at me.

_But I have grown to strong _

_ to ever fall back in your arms. _

She was strong enough that she didn't need my protection anymore. That was what she was telling e with that line.

_ Dear to so long just to feel alright_

_ Remember how to put back the light in my eyes _

I thought of when she cred herself to sleep only a couple weeks ago and when she was broken after I broke up with her on the boat.

_ I wished I had missed the first time that we kissed because you broke all your promises _

I thought of all the things I had promised her in Oregon and never did. That I _forgot _about.

_ And now your back, you don't get to get me back_

Finally I thought about when I regained my memory and she wouldn't leave Kishan for me, just like she told me she wouldn't. _ If I commit to Kishan, I won't leave him for you_.

Everyone word she sang was a stab to my gut. Finally I couldn't take it and just as she finished her song, my glass shattered beneath my hand and liquid and glass went everywhere. I stood up quickly and the stool toppled over with a loud noise. Everyone looked back at me as I walked out the door.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kishan help both a drunk Astra and a drunk Kelsey down from the stage and out the door. I stalked ahead of them down the street.

I looked back to see Kishan was carrying them across the street. I knew he could manage them both but they looked kinda squished.

I went to help him and held Kelsey close to my chest. "I'm sorry _priyatama_," I whispered in her ear, "I'm so so sorry. For everything." She reached up and wiped a single tear of my face and then fell asleep in my arms.


	20. Chapter 19

**CHAPTER 19**

**KELSEY'S POV**

The next morning, I was woken my movement in the hallway. I rose out of my bed, noticed Astra was still sleeping so made a point to be silent, and made my way to the door. I opened the door to a very startled Ren with his hands raised to knock.

"Oh. Good morning." He fought to keep his manner casual and not stiff.

I stared at him with an unfathomable expression. His eyes turned as hard and cold as stone.

"Well, I was just coming to tell you that Kishan and I were going to workout in the local gym. Goodbye, Kelsey."

He whirled and started to walk away. When he was halfway down the hallway, I whispered (knowing he would hear), "I'm sorry. For last night." He turned back round slowly and stopped right in front of me.

"I'm sorry. I was… well, there's no excuse. It wasn't right."

"I forgave you right away Kells," he replied, "Your one of the only people I know that can admit they have done something wrong. That is a virtue I hope you never "loose."

This made me uncomfortable and made me say, "I didn't say that it was wrong. Just that it wasn't right. I should have expressed myself in a different more gentle way. But it was not wrong."

He looked at me in a funny way, shook his head as if shaking away a thought, and then smirked at me. He walked down the hall and disappeared out the door with the smirk still on his face.

That night was the masquerade ball. In a pearl white dress with a ruches bodice, draped gossamer on the skirt and a mask of feathers, I was the White Swan. Astra was the Black Swan in a matching dress in Black.

That night and the rest of the festival was a blur of dancing, beautiful dresses, and trying (unsuccessfully) to avoid Ren and Kishan.

The morning after the festival was over, the four of us were walking in a little wooded area. All of a sudden, Ren and Kishan fell through the ground and disappeared.

Az and I looked down to see that they had fallen into a pit so deep that even as tigers and with their strength, they had no hope of escape.

Men in cam suits dropped from the trees all around and formed a circle around the two of us and the pit, blocking all exits. We immediately went back to back and started to circle, and I took in everything around me just like Astra taught me.

I could hear Ren and Kishan growling in frustration at the situation but no one paid them any attention.

And then the battle started. Az and I dodged tranquilizers and fists and punches; twisted; turned, punched; kicked; and all around whipped their ass into the ground.

We stacked the unconscious bodies in a pile and then shoved them into the pit. Ren and Kishan climbed up using the sleeping forms to make their way high enough to jump out.

Az and I fell to the floor laughing when they seemed so surprised that we took out so many men all by our selves.


	21. Chapter 20

**CHAPTER 20**

**Kelsey's POV**

We decided that it would be best to go home to India. I noticed how Astra also said home. I asked Az about this at point when the boys didn't seem to be listening.

"My home is no longer in Svalbard. Everything I had there is gone, Kells. My home is now where ever my sister is," was her reply.

"Who's your sister?" I asked, genuinely confused. She poked me in the chest and said, "You are, silly!"

She said it lightly, but we both knew how deep in our hearts the other was.

That evening we boarded the jet. I slept until I felt the plane start to descend. We were already in India? Wow. I didn't think I slept that long!

I asked Astra whether we were already there.

"No," she replied, "We're stopping in Dublin for a little concert performed by an acquaintance of mine." Ren, Kishan, and I looked at her, confused, but she elaborated no further and instead gave me a garment bag.

I came out of the bathroom clothed in a beautiful silver silk sheath dress with a long slit on the right leg and a dip in the back. Given that it was cold in Ireland, the dress had long, tight sleeves that hooked around each of my middle fingers with a gold ring. I wore silver, four-inch, platform heels and rhinestone studded hairclips in my wavy hair. I didn't do much with my make-up; just some silver shadow and gloss.

Az wore a matching ensemble in red, but hers had lace sleeves. Ren and Kishan wore dress shirts and (Ren in, of course, light blue, and Kishan in black) and black dress pants.

We arrived at Dublin National Concert Hall, or An Ceoláras Náisiúnta, in Irish, and found our seats. Which were, of course, front and center. The solo-performer was a violinist named Caoibhe Ní Raghallaigh (pronounced kee-va ne Rallah). She came on stage and everyone applauded. I looked around. There were mostly older men and women around and most of the younger people there were probably violinists themselves.

Caoibhe looked exactly like you would picture a beautiful Irish girl (I hesitate to say woman because she couldn't have been more than seventeen): fiery red hair that flowed down her back in soft ringlets; bright, bright blue eyes (which I found out from Astra were sightless); and pale white skin dotted with freckles across her nose. She wore a soft pink organza dress, sleeve-less.

Her first piece was one of my favorites: In The Hall of The Mountain King. It was beautiful. The other two concertos I had never heard before. I lost myself in the rapid movement of her fingers and sat transfixed, unaware of anything else until the performance was over. We stood up. Ren, Kishan, and I stared heading towards the exit but Az stopped us.

"You think we came here just to listen to music?" and she led us backstage where Caoibhe was greeting fans old and young.

Finally it was our turn. "Hello," she said in her (awesome) Irish accent, "Did you enjoy the concert?"

"Hello Caoibhe," Az said staring at the blind violinist with an expression I couldn't read.

Caoibhe's smile dropped and she turned to a security guard behind her. "Would you mind escorting these people to my waiting room while I greet the rest of the people here?" The guard nodded. As if the blind girl could sense the nod, she said, "Thank you, Kevin.

Kevin led us to a small little lounge where we made ourselves comfortable. A half an hour later, Caoibhe decided to make an appearance.

"Astra, who have you brought with you? I know you don't make friends lightly."

"This is Kelsey, Ren, and Kishan. The ones you directed me to."

"Ah, so it's that reality then. Well hello Kelsey Hayes. And hello: Alagan Dhiren and Sohan Kishan. It is a great pleasure to finally meet the Rajaram brothers. My only regret is not to be able to see you in real life." Caoibhe smiled.

I am so confused.

But Ren got right to the point, "Who are you and how do you know our full names?" He asked brusquely.

"My, my, Dhiren, where are your charming, lady-killing manners? I'm Caoibhe, as you know, and I'm something of an oracle. I can see the different futures that lie with one person and I can deliver prophecies. I'm one of Astra's… allies. She comes to me whenever she needs guidance. Speaking of which, why are you here, Astra?"

She turned her sightless eyes on Az. That was _really _creepy the way she did that.

"I need all the stuff I left with you," Astra replied.

"Ah, I see. Well come with me. Kelsey, you and your men can wait here, we wont be long. And she touched a panel on the wood wall and it slide back to reveal stairs. Caoibhe picked up a flaming torch from its resting place on the wall and handed it to Astra since she obviously didn't need it. They started down the dark stairs and the panel slide closed.

I wandered over to a little table in the center of the room and found a book: _The Bourne Legacy. _I sat down on the couch and started reading.

Az and Caoibhe came back up twenty minutes later and put the book back where I found it. Az was carrying three large duffel bags, but she still managed not to wrinkle her dress.

"Thank you, Caoibhe, but we must leave now," Az said and we started out the door.

But the blind girl stopped us in our tracks. We turned around. "There is a reckoning coming Kelsey Hayes," she said in an eerie voice, "You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, your going to wonder how you were so fortunate for so long. Beware of the man with the shifting skins for he-" she cut of suddenly and blood spurt from her mouth.

She looked down at the dagger protruding from her heart and then collapsed. She was dead before she hit the floor. A man behind her stood holding a bloody dagger. The four of us started to slowly inch away.

"She said to much," he explained and then disappeared.

We left and boarded the jet immediately and flew back to India, all of us silent and unhinged by what we had just witnessed.


	22. Announcement

Dear readers,

I regret to inform you that I cannot continue this story. Thought I wish to, other matters have become more important. I'm sorry for all my readers, who truly enjoyed this story, and I will try to come back to it sometime, but I cannot promise anything. _Tiger's Destiny _has now been released, and as I have already read it, i hope all of you enjoy it.

I will be kind and tell all of you what was to happen in my story. Durga was going to make Kelsey and Astra "soul sisters" which meant they could hear each others thoughts, share memories, and share knowledge (in other words, Kelsey becomes pretty badass). Then they were to be captured by Lokesh and Kelsey uses the whole, pain is power idea and pretends to go crazy and love Lokesh and then kill him. Then i was going to leave the adventure to Colleen and my epilogue would be Kelsey marrying Ren and Astra marrying Kishan.

Again, I am sorry that I could not finish this story.

May Tiger's Curse live on in your hearts, thought the series is over.

-Sasha


End file.
